SPCR says the TriCools were OEM'd by Dynatron. Considering YLs sell for around $5 from *retailers* I think it's feasible to say a company as large as Antec that can move as many of the fans, could easily get a deal for $2-$3 per fan. I can't imagine Dynatron is manufacturing them cheaper than that.

SPCR says the TriCools were OEM'd by Dynatron. Considering YLs sell for around $5 from *retailers* I think it's feasible to say a company as large as Antec that can move as many of the fans, could easily get a deal for $2-$3 per fan. I can't imagine Dynatron is manufacturing them cheaper than that.

If SPCR says the TriCools were OEM'd by Dynatron, they know much better than my simple assumptions.

So perhaps there is hope. But no doubt these is still some VP somewhere whose career is tied to protecting such a fundamental sourcing relationship.

The basic idea of the TriCool fan is a good one - having a 3-way speed switch built into the fan is an excellent idea and is much more convenient than the adaptors that come with Noctuas etc.

The problem is in the implementation: firstly the actual fan is not very quiet when compared to some other fans spinning at similar speeds, secondly the fans run too fast for really quiet operation even at the lowest setting (1200RPM), and thirdly the SPCR review makes it plain that the TriCool get rough-sounding and begins to "chuff" at the lowest speed. For many users the current TriCool is fine but most of us put them straight in the spare parts bin. We'd certainly never buy one as a retrofit, and we tell our friends and colleagues not to buy them either.

So Antec have a market opportunity here: they could bring out a new model of the TriCool, a low-speed version with improved noise characteristics. Something like 1200/900/600RPM for speeds, and with the noise characteristics of a Nexus - now there is an Antec fan that I would buy! And if they offered it as an option on their cases that would be brilliant. Ideally it should be supplied with silicone mounts.

OK I realise that the extreme quiet market is not as big as the market for the standard TriCool, and that designing and building the fan would have costs, but a company as big and successful as Antec must be able to source appropriate components, even if not from Dynatron (they don't appear to make a low speed 120mm fan, let alone a quiet one - I have nightmares thinking about what Dynatron's 15,000RPM 25mm fan must sound like ).

A small price premium over the standard TriCool would not be unacceptable if it was a truly better fan - TriCools are not a premium-priced product so there's room for a price increase for the new fan. And the best thing from Antec's point of view is that this fan would bring in new customers, not just eat into the sales of their current TriCool.

I take Ces's point about the VP/Dynatron relationship problem, but maybe that relationship is strong enough for Antec to get Dynatron to start designing and producing low-speed quiet fans, which would be a win/win for both companies.

Yes, I agree that it's time for an update to the Solo. It's a great case (I bought one recently), but with a few simple changes it could be greatly improved and reinvigorate its sales.

1. A single 120mm fan mount at the front, instead of the dual 92mm fan mounts

2. Redesign the door so you don't have to remove the side panel to open it so you have better access to the front filters

3. Add a cut out to the MB tray for heatsink mounting (like on the revised P183)

4. Add cable management behind the MB tray (again like the P183) along with the appropriate cable ports.

5. Relocate the PSU to the bottom of the case, preferably in a separate chamber like the P183

6. Make the case deeper so you can fit large video cards

There are probably other changes that could be made as well, but that'll do for now. The case would end up being slightly larger than it is now, but that's fine with me.

Whatever happens, DO NOT get rid of the HD suspension system - it's the Solo's best feature, and one which ought to be standard in all the Antec Performance series cases as well.

Cheers!

took the words out of my mouth, but please no "stars" or "siik" graphics on the front, the solo has a classy look, perhaps an esata and/or usb3 ports and maybe an all black version ala NSK6580B, with small changes the solo will stay relevant for another 5 years! WIN!1

Antec_Rep,
The suggestions for an updated Antec Solo case by outbackyak & mdrumt are ideal. Perhaps not everything suggested above can be implemented... I would also like to see an eSATA port on the front of the case (either added, or replacing the IEE1394 port).
A "refreshed" Antec Solo case would be great in time for the Intel Sandy Bridge Architecture in Q1 2011.

The new case should totally have flashing bling lights, spinner rim covers for the fans left right and centre, and more air vent holes than metal! j/k

Seriosuly though, I think I'm one of the few who prefered Firewire front port over eSATA. I wish I have Firewire instead on my P183, something I miss having since moving up from my Solo. It's useful for importing footage from DV cams.

Seriosuly though, I think I'm one of the few who prefered Firewire front port over eSATA. I wish I have Firewire instead on my P183, something I miss having since moving up from my Solo. It's useful for importing footage from DV cams.

You are not alone on that one !
That is one of my problems with the mini 180 - along with the fact you have to take out a HDD bay to fit a video card - and the 200 mm monstrosity in the top of the case !
I am about to buy a new case for my SLI game box - was looking at the 183 or 193 .
The 183 is a dead loss , have to remove the top HDD bays for the video cards , I would have already bought a 193 but I do not like the 200mm fan in the side door . At present I am using an old SLK 3700 AMB with the fan grills cut out .
I really like the 193 except for the fan in the door or would buy the 183 if it was a little longer from front to rear so I could fit a pair of graphics cards in .

Seriosuly though, I think I'm one of the few who prefered Firewire front port over eSATA. I wish I have Firewire instead on my P183, something I miss having since moving up from my Solo. It's useful for importing footage from DV cams.

You are not alone on that one !That is one of my problems with the mini 180 - along with the fact you have to take out a HDD bay to fit a video card - and the 200 mm monstrosity in the top of the case ! I am about to buy a new case for my SLI game box - was looking at the 183 or 193 .The 183 is a dead loss , have to remove the top HDD bays for the video cards , I would have already bought a 193 but I do not like the 200mm fan in the side door . At present I am using an old SLK 3700 AMB with the fan grills cut out .I really like the 193 except for the fan in the door or would buy the 183 if it was a little longer from front to rear so I could fit a pair of graphics cards in .

Hi Pony-Tail,

Unless you have 6+ hard drives, you could mount the hard drives on the bottom right cage. You could then remove the middle change to fit a bigger video card.

I have a P182 and its very similar to the P183 and I'm running 6 hard drives (4 SSDs in Raid 0 and 2 for storage). I did have to remove my middle hard drive cage to fit my Ati 5870. So you basically don't need the middle hard drive cage unless you have 6+ hard drives.

As for the P193, the 200mm fan is there to keep the system cool (CPU and single/dual video cards). I've seen the case myself and its simply amazing. The temps stays low and it's a really quiet case.

Something I would suggest is making the USB ports on the front farther apart. With so little room between them, if I already have a cable connected in one port, I can't plug in anything wide (like some flash drives) in the other port. Adding about a half inch or so of extra space between ports would be great.

I have had my Solo since the core 2 duo first came out and I love the case. I really like the quality steel construction versus the aluminum of other cases. The thing I would change about the Solo echo what some others have said. 1. easier to remove/install power supply. 2. cutout in motherboard tray for mounting cpu brackets. 3. Either make the case a little deeper or have possibly a space between optical drives and power supply to put a few hard drives because my video card is currently pushing up against one of my hard drives so that I cannot properly mount it.

I am in the market for a new larger case right now and I was seriously considering the Antec 1200 because of the 2 120 fans in the back. I was thinking of mounting my water cooling rad there. In the back inside the case seems like the quietest place to mount a rad to me. The thing that is stopping me from getting the 1200 is the side vent and that fan on top.

I have always been satisfied with antec products and thanks for listening to your consumers antec rep.

Having had my Antec Solo for several years now, I had a few small niggles with it. When my uncle and aunt needed a new PC a month ago, I suggested the Solo as a good investment for future use. When I opened it up for their new build, I was greeted with several new upgrades from mine.

One, the front ports were upgraded from AC'97 to HD Audio, and includes connectors for both, which is a huge plus over my old AC'97 with individual wires coming off the back of it. The drive sleds now include hardware to securely mount a 2.5" HDD or SSD. There were a couple of other detail changes, but I can't remember them now.

Now, I just have to send a message to Antec support to inquire about one of those new upgraded drive sleds and screws for the 2.5" drives, since one of my 4 drive sleds disappeared during a move, and I'd like to buy one of the upgraded front USB/audio panel.

Beyond the great suggestions made so far, one other important thing. The front power/reset buttons need to be much sturdier/better designed to handle a serious press. I've broken my button twice now without even using that much force. Should be a pretty easy fix methinks

As a long time owner of two Solo cases, I'm generally pretty satisfied, but I've got some comments and suggestions ...

In terms of height and depth, this case is just about ideal for my uses. It was the only mid-tower case that I found that can accept a DDS tape changer in the upper 5.25" drive bays without interference by the top of the motherboard. These drives are deep and require two bay slots. I use either onboard video or small cards like the Matrox G550 or NVIDIA GT-210, so I don't need any more internal case depth. Increasing the external depth would be bad for me because I have limited space in that direction in some of the places I have to locate my computers.

I would definitely like to be able to open the front door and get access to the filter without having to remove the side of the case. I have a number of machines placed side by side, so opening the side door is very cumbersome. This also means that adding a side fan in the door would be a negative for me. Incidentally, before the Solo came out, I bought a Fong Kai FK-333 case, which has a side door that is hinged at the bottom and latches at the top. This is much easier to open and remove the door in tight quarters than the Solo's rear-opening door.

I'm reasonably satisfied with the front fan setup on the Solo. My hard drives stay plenty cool with a single 92mm Nexus fan that is undervolted with a Fan Mate. I replaced the stock Tri Cool rear fan with a quieter Yate Loon. A filtered positive-pressure cooling scheme would be great.

I'd marginally prefer a front Firewire port to eSATA.

I haven't had any problems with the front panel switches, but I rarely use them.

Having to remove the motherboard to get access to the PSU is really inconvenient.

I've just been using the drive mounting trays and have not used the suspension because the trays have been quiet enough.

I'd prefer a matte finish to gloss to avoid the appearance degradation caused by fingerprints and scuffs.

Antec_Rep, new CPUs, chipsets, motherboards are coming from both Intel (Sandy Bridge) and AMD in early 2011.On top of that, new and updated features, such as USB 3.0 connectivity, will be included with upcoming motherboards.... is there any news on a "refreshed" Antec Solo??

I have one Antec Solo case at present. The power button broke and needed to be glued together again. I hope a redesign will include sturdier power and reset buttons. I'm pretty satisfied with the case as is. A quieter case fan would be good.

I expect to buy 3 more Solo cases within a year. My needs and wishes are rather different from those in earlier posts.

- All 3 cases will be used with low power CPUs (i3-530 or an even lower powered Sandy Bridge CPU) and integrated graphics. They will all have a ~5400 RPM and perhaps a small system drive.

- I'll be using a very quiet power supply that does not turn on the fan at low loads. The Seasonic X560 is the most likely choice.

- Two of the cases will have 1-3 PCI/PCIe cards inside. One case will have a full ATX board inside.

- Three hard drives is the max I'll ever have in these cases. All the drives I use will be low power, quiet drives.

- I'd like to be able to fit a mini-ITX motherboard in one of the tower cases. (If you made a mini-tower with the Solo's features that would be an alternative to one of the Solo cases.)

- a front panel connector for USB 3.0 is desirable. A front panel eSATA connector is less important but would be a plus. (Some boards have an eSATA connector on board but no back panel eSATA connector.)

I don't object to making the Solo even better for gamers. Just keep it the best choice for people building low power, really quiet PCs.

Maybe the actual problem is that no other vendor seems interested. Antec already own that share: so, without competitors, there's no compelling reason to update the Solo (or the NSK3480, or the Mini P-180, or their TFX line, and so on). Maybe when USB 3.0 will be widespread, there will be a very minor refresh.

Ringing in its quarter-century celebration, Antec will show-off its newest innovations at CES which include: a feature-rich and wallet-friendly gamer case, and the latest addition to the renowned Sonata line of enclosures, which is the first of the Sonatas to come standard with a 620-watt power supply.

I hope Antec reads this thread and considers updating the Solo. I am in the process of speccing a new quiet workstation for myself, and I'm having a really hard time deciding between the Solo and the P183. Apparently Antec is coming out with an update to the P183 soon - one of their people told me this on the phone last week when I called them to ask about choosing between these cases. He said they are updating it with USB3 and something to do with faster SATA (?) port, but not much else changing apparently, and the new ones should be on newegg within a couple of weeks. He also advised me that the P183 would be quieter than the Solo, due to the additional sound insulation. But I really like the drive suspension options on the Solo, and its general design is more attractive to me.

I'd like to use the Seasonic fanless SS-460FL, which doesn't seem natural somehow upside down at the top of the Solo. The bottom mount for the PSU in the P183 seems better for that. But I don't really like the top vent in the P183 - it seems ugly to me, and will surely let dust in (the vent is not round, so surely any fan inside there can't ensure complete air movement out of all those holes?). I prefer the styling and suspension of the Solo, but I like the PSU position of the P183 (and the updated ports, assuming that's real).

I might also try out the Smart Drive enclosure - would that be more effective even that the Solo's suspension for minimizing hum from the drive? In which case, the P183 starts to look better, since the suspension on the Solo wouldn't matter as much. But that stupid arrow vent on top... sigh. I guess you have to run a fan there, if only to stop dust from settling in from above, am I right?

Which case would be better? Solo or "new" P183?

And I wish Antec would listen to people on this thread and update the Solo. Surely they realize that people research these things online before buying, one good rave review of a case update that had all these common sense changes would surely produce a lot of interest (and sales).

Well, I had understood rightly: with reference to the hum, the smart drive enclosure "not even by mistake" might be more effective than the elastic suspension, definitely no. Have I been more clearly understandable?

If you want to reduce or eliminate vibrations transferred to the case, then hard drive silencing enclosures really need to be decoupled from the case, with foam, or perhaps even suspended with elastic. I'm using a Nexus Drive-A-Way enclosure, and it still vibrates a lot with a drive in it. The enclosure does do a fantastic job of muffling airborne noise though.

So what I'm saying is that to effectively shut a hard drive up, you need to use silencing enclosure, and then decouple the enclosure from the case.

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